The word this week from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that his budget director Annette Guzman is leaving that job to care for her ailing mother is a reminder that tending to a parent in need is a heavy and emotionally draining obligation, and - as we have recently experienced - rarely comes at a convenient time. We wish Ms. Guzman and her loved ones peace as they navigate the situation ahead.
It is also true that Ms. Guzman’s exit is coming at an exceedingly bad time for the city and the Johnson Administration, as Chicago careens toward the end of the year with an urgent need to find solutions for a projected multi-million-dollar budget shortfall for 2026, as well as an expected billion-dollar deficit for next year. Her announcement also follows by a matter of days the departure of city chief financial officer Steven Mahr - who himself was working in an “acting” capacity - as well as the CFO’s top deputy.
And while each departure deserves to be viewed on its own terms, the overall picture is one of uncertainty and instability … days before the city prepares to make its annual financial presentation to institutional investors gauging Chicago’s suitability as a financial risk.
For his part, the mayor is saying exactly what any chief executive would be expected to say in a similar situation. “Transitions happen all the time in administrations, but what's most constant is my presence,” he told reporters this week, insisting that “I am the continuity.”
But the “I’m-in-charge-here” messaging follows almost a year of tumult on the fifth floor of City Hall that’s included the departures of his chief public safety operative, the chair of the human relations commission, his public health director, the city’s police superintendent, and - just revealed - the head of human resources. And instead of seeking to rebuild his often-fraught relationships with aldermen, the mayor has remained focused on attacking City Council members who pushed through a budget over his objections at the end of last year, deriding them as members of the “corporate caucus” and accusing them of making the city’s financial situation more perilous. For its part, the self-proclaimed “Budget Accountability Coalition” has accused the Johnson Administration of deliberately slow-walking their initiatives as a way to force the city to increase taxes on business owners.
And all of this is going on as the field of potential mayoral challengers continues to grow, now including perennial candidate Dr. Willie Wilson and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. We expect the mayor will eventually join that field, but without swift action to install competent leaders on his financial team and reach beyond his shrinking coterie of City Council allies, it’s hard to see a solution that adds up for him politically … not to mention the city as a whole.
